Vignettes of the World
The Chapel Bridge took me south of the river, where my tour of Luzern began. The Jesuit Church stands prominently on the riverside. “The Jesuit Church of St. Francis Xavier was built 1666-73, but its onion domed twin towers were not completed until the 19th …
Luzern and Lucerne are one and the same city. Luzern is the way that its mostly German-speaking population refer to the city, whereas Lucerne is simply the French name and the general reference in English. For a couple days I kept debating what my next …
Book Review: Not Giving Up (Trans. Original in Korean, Translated into Chinese), 2017
By Bok Yi Choi
The word Bon, in Hanja[1], is first, the character for “man” over a “cross,” then furthermore a “cross” below. Overall, it is an imagery of a man bearing a cross below a big cross.
There was something indelible about this porridge. It was capable of conveying its taste by its looks. Ms Bok Yi Choi pointed at the picture, “what do you think of this porridge? This is our seafood item.” The audience stirred. There was consensus that this porridge was delicious, without having eaten it. For the next hour or so, we would be savoring Bok Yi Choi’s story of entrepreneurship.
Porridge, to Bok Yi, was a weakness of the enterprise. It is a kind of food that people associate with poverty and sickness. Furthermore, it cannot be sold for a high price. It is labor intensive to make good porridge, and yet, before Bonjuk became Korea’s premier brand of national food, people would not pay very much for it.
There were many failed attempts in starting a business before Bok Yi finally set up the very successful Bonjuk enterprise. In the early years of her marriage, she and her husband failed in their first publishing business. They ended up selling buns on the street as hawkers, mired in debt and poverty. For many times, they were chased down by the police, who confiscated their pushing carts.
Her husband later established a very successful chain name in beauty and skincare products. For a period of time, the family enjoyed immense wealth. That all changed in the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis. Her husband went bankrupt. The family was back to a life of making ends meet.
During those difficult years, Bok Yi went through severe depression. It was with the Christian faith that she experienced healing. When she was poor, she met many who were also poor. For 500 won, she made poor children the biggest bun she could, two times what was in the market. This was her witness of God to the poor. She told God that there was no waiting for the day that she became successful in order to be charitable. She would witness God even in the ebbs of life. The Lord powered her faith with reminders of the golden Biblical principle: it is more blessed to give than to receive. Thus sown in her heart were the seeds of charity. God’s love continued to guide her.
In seeking the first venue for Bonjuk, Bok Yi could only afford a place on the second floor in a rather run-down neighborhood. Besides the fact that the three previous owners all failed in their business there, this first store was a classic horror story. When Bok Yi first opened the fridge in the kitchen, hundreds of cockroaches raced out. Her mother, who would pray for anything, was so horrified that she found no words possible to pray at that moment. To Bok Yi, this first store of Bonjuk was God’s training for her. It was the toughest condition to start a business, and she passed God’s alpha training course.
In Bonjuk’s first day, the family of seven worked a whole day, but selling only ten bowls of porridge. They prayed, having full faith in Jesus’ promise that “with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26). They dressed up in suits to hand out their flyers. Seeing that they were so respectful in handing out flyers, people received the flyers with both hands.
Bok Yi told us that some of the first women who frequented her restaurant wanted to eat porridge because they were on diet. With keen effort to advertise, Bonjuk began to attract many customers.
As business became better, Bok Yi had a problem. Each day they could handle only about forty to fifty bowls of porridge. She insisted that each bowl must be made to order, and each customer could ask for different ingredients in the porridge.
When there were thirty to forty customers during lunch hour, after the twentieth bowl the customers started leaving. They could not wait any longer. Even when the business had turned around, Bok Yi thought of giving up because her operation model did not seem to be able to meet higher demand.
Bonjuk’s good name spread. In the seventh month, people were lining up along the staircase for a seat at the table. Before long, the television station came for interviews. Two lines formed at her business. One was for the food itself, the other line was for people who were looking for a chance to open a franchise store for Bonjuk.
The Lord fully showed Himself through in Bonjuk’s success. Bonjuk flourished in the following years. There are now more than 1,700 stores. The enterprise has also extended its business abroad in many international locations.
Now, Bonjuk has blossomed into three prongs of enterprising work. First is the Bonjuk Corporation, which sells porridge in-store and also premade, packaged porridge in the convenient stores. Then there is Bon Love, which stands for the principle of Christian charity. It focuses upon charitable initiatives all over the world. Finally, there is Bon Mission, which is Bok Yi’s faith in action. It dedicates itself to the Christian idea of Business as Mission. On one hand, Bon Mission provides care and accommodation for returning missionaries in Korea. On the other hand, Bon Mission builds seminaries in other parts of the world.
Sources:
A Talk by Bok Yi Choi, 2018, Hong Kong.
Bok Yi Choi, Not Giving Up (Trans. Original in Korean, Translated into Chinese), 2017.
[1] Hangja is the Korean name for Chinese characters used in the Korean language.
“I have traversed all Rousseau’s ground…and am struck to a degree with the force & accuracy of his descriptions — & the beauty of their reality: Meillerie –Clarens — & Vevey — & the Château de Chillon are place of which I shall say little …
Perhaps with the exception of, broadly, British colonial rule and its return to China in 1997, Hong Kong is not well known for its history. Yet Hong Kong does celebrate its past, short though it might be. This day I visited the Pinewood Battery …
Gruyeres (pronounced gree-EYRE) is a town about an hour northeast of Lausanne. It is famous for its cheese, made at La Maison Du Gruyeres.
Every cheese starts with the cows that make the milk. The milk farmers of Gruyeres graze their cows in the meadows of Swiss Alps at high altitude. The cows feed not only on the green pastures, but also on the floral growth there, such as lavender. As such, their milk comes with its own special aroma. This source of milk guarantees the quality of the Gruyeres cheese.
The economics of cheese-making at Gruyeres goes like this. A cow eats 100kg of fresh grass and drinks 85 litres of water to yield 25 litres of milk, which it produces morning and evening. The cows are milked by machine to ensure its purity. There are checks on acidity and germs. The hard cheese of Le Gruyeres is made from natural unpasteurized milk.
Each 400 litres of milk will turn into 35 kg of cheese. Overall, 2,200 milk producers deliver 345 millions litres of milk to the cheese-makers. This would become 870,000 wheels of Gruyeres cheese.
I have noted, on my first day in Switzerland, how seriously the Swiss take their cheese. I found the reason in Gruyeres. Cheese-making is a traditional industry in Switzerland. The region in which the cows are raised, the milk is sourced, the cheese is produced and matured is a seal of craftsmanship. The process of production is fiercely regimented. After all, it becomes a tradition only because it is tried-and-true.
The milk is heated at 32 degrees Celsius. Then the cheese-maker adds a natural starter, which coagulates the milk. When the milk is coagulated, it is sliced up. Then it is kept at 57 degrees Celsius to firm up. The critical technique is for the cheese to retain its elasticity and consistency without breaking. The mixture is pressed for 16 hours. During this time, it is turned regularly. The juice (whey) comes out. The cheese is kept in a salt bath for 24 hours. Then it is placed in a cellar, with small amount of ammonia for it to age and ripen. Five months later, a crust will form. That would be the time that the cheese sells in the market. The cheese can continue to age beyond five months.
At the cheese museum we saw the actual tools that La Maison du Gruyeres uses for all processes of production. It was eye-opening. These equipment were organized, sanitary and modern all in one.
Perhaps the most educational part of the tour was the cheese tasting. When we bought our tickets, the staff handed out a packet of cheese pieces, aged in 5 months, 8 months and 10 months. As we waited for our fondue at the museum restaurant, we opened the packet and tried. One after another, the pieces did have a distinguishable difference. We all agreed that the 8-month tasted better than the 5, and the 10-month tasted better than the 8. I am no expert on cheese, but the most aged piece had the richest flavor.
When speaking of Swiss cheese one must know the idea of AOP (appellation d’origine protégée). In English, it means the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Cheese that bear the AOP designation are “produced, processed and refined in a clearly defined region.”[1] This means that the “milk is sourced from the same region in which it is made into cheese and in which the cheese is matured.” There are currently twelve cheeses in Switzerland that meet the AOP standards, and Le Gruyeres is one of them.
Coming from America, however, when we say “Swiss cheese,” we are referring to the Emmental. You know, the mice that demanded, “Who Moved My Cheese?” Then the image comes thus the mouse with its yellow cheese with holes. That is in fact Emmental cheese. Emmental is another cheese region in Switzerland, located in the Canton of Bern. In Switzerland, Emmental is also an AOP-bearing cheese.
Last, but certainly not least, the medieval town of Gruyeres is really worth a good tour.
[1] AOP and IGP: Quality Labels with Character, CheesefromSwitzerland.
In German, “Jungfrau” means “virgin,” and “joch” means “pass.” The Jungfraujoch is a must-see in Switzerland. Named the “top of Europe,” it is at an altitude of 3,466 metres.[1] In order to maximize my time at the mountain, I woke at 5:15 and boarded the …
The street scenes of Bern left an everlasting impression on my mind. At first sight of Bern, I was surprised by its colors. The main color is a burnt green, consistently present in most of the sandstone buildings in the Altstadt. This burnt green is …
There is this idea of a “Hong Kong Style Western Cuisine.” Its roots go back to the late 19th century, when many foreigners did business in Hong Kong. Thus the demand for western cuisine. In the beginning, only foreigners dined at these western restaurants, but slowly, the compradors and the local merchants also went.
The so-called Hong Kong styled western cuisine has come to be called “soy-sauce western.” And Tai Ping Koon, with its famous Swiss sauce dishes, represents some of the key features of this native breed, which, properly understood, is fusion.
Tai Ping Koon first established in Tai Ping Sha, Guandong in 1860. Its name Tai Ping was a reference to its founding location. Its founder Chui Lo Ko was a chef in a trading company in Shamian. He left to open this first western restaurant in Guangzhou. Some famous people were customers of Tai Ping Koon, including Sun Yatsen, Zhou Enlai and Chiang Kai-shek.
The restaurant then moved to Hong Kong in 1937, after the Sino-Japanese War broke out. During the 1950s, the Tai Ping Koon on Yonghan Road, Guangzhou met the unfortunate fate of nationalization. Since then, Tai Ping Koon no longer had any presence in China. In Hong Kong, the restaurant continued to be owned and run by the same family, Chui, over the past one hundred years. There are four branches in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon now. The restaurant on Mau Lam Street, Yau Ma Tei has been running since 1964.
Tai Ping Koon’s menu is the best witness to the unique style of cuisine for which it stands. In the earlier days, the restaurant offered dishes such as the American Garoupa and Sadan Chicken. Some dishes that the restaurant has always offered, since its earliest days, are Tai Ping Koon Style Roasted Pigeon, Baked Portuguese Style Chicken with Rice. Finally, the most popular Chicken Wings in Swiss Sauce are the most ordered item in all of the four branches.
As to how this slightly sweet soy-based sauce became known as Swiss Sauce, the story goes like this. A western customer noted that he liked the chicken wings because it tasted “sweet.” The staff then told another staff, who had better English, but the word “Swiss” stuck. That was how this blend of soy sauce came to be known.
Finally, the dimmed ambiance of the restaurant, all of the servers who worked at the restaurant till old age, and the classic compartment seating all made it a nostalgia to dine there. Although, by now, the restaurant is no longer a fine-dining establishment, it retains a special place for all walks of life in Hong Kong. Word has it that many famous people considered it a perfect place to meet mistresses for dates, probably because its dimmed lighting enabled anonymity.
This day that I visited, I felt like having the Fried Flat Noodle with Slice Beef in Swiss Sauce. Furthermore I had the Baked Souffle as my dessert. Visitors who would like to try the Baked Souffle should beware. The portion is enormous. It is certainly big enough for sharing amongst three or more people.
Sources:
Hong Kong Museum of History, Modern Metropolis, Material Culture of Shanghai and Hong Kong (2009).
Chris Dwyer, Secrets of Three of Hong Kong’s Oldest Restaurants: Quality, Loyalty and Consistency, March 22, 2018.
The Menu of Tai Ping Koon.
By 3pm, the winter day at Bern was waning. I debated where to go as I wandered randomly in town. Bus 12 just passed by me, going to Zentrum Paul Klee and so I hopped on. Having crossed through the town and onward to its …